PSLV-C16 SOARS TO SUCCESS – ToI – 21.4.11

17th Consecutive Successful Launch By Isro Of A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

V Ayyappan | TNN

    Shaking off aspersions over two failed GSLV launches last year, the Indian Space Research Organisation rose to another level of success with the 17th consecutively successful launch of a polar satellite launch vehicle on Wednesday.
    In a precision launch, PSLV- C16 placed on a 822-km sun synchronous orbit three satellites — Resourcesat - 2, an Indo-Russian Youthsat and Singapore’s first satellite X-Sat, on Wednesday. The satellites were placed in orbit 18 minutes after launch at the Sriharikota spaceport.
    Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said the launch was a grand success, though there was a minor difference in the orbit achieved. “We wanted to put the satellites into a 820-km orbit, but we got an 822 km orbit,” he said. The mission cost Rs 250 crore.
    The launch was keenly watched across the world as data from Resourcesat- 2 will be used by 15 countries. The satellite, which weighs 1206 kg, will collect data including those on ground water and mineral resources and on land and fish density in the oceans. The satellite is equipped with three cameras that can cover widths of 740 km, 141 km and 17 km at resolutions ranging from 22 metres to 5 metres.
    “The satellite will replace Resourcesat- 1 which is in orbit since 2003. Resourcesat- 2 is a global mission and has many improvements. It has three cameras that can monitor natural resources at different resolutions. It can be used to monitor snow cover, glacier changes, urban landscape and others,” said Radhakrishnan.
    PSLV-C16 mission director P Kunhikrishnan said all the stages of the rocket performed well. “The solid stage propulsion and liquid stage propulsion worked well and we were able to achieve the orbit in 18 minutes. The solar panel of ResourceSat-2 has been deployed and the satellite was pushed to the second orbit soon,” he said.
    FUTURE
    LAUNCHES
PSLV C 17: Edu Sat by end of June or first week of July
PSLV C 18: Megha-Tropiques a Indo-French joint venture satellite to study atmosphere by August
PSLV C 19: RS Sat a 1,100 kg microwave satelliate for remote sensing by end of this year
G Sat-8, a 3,200 kg satellite, built by ISRO to be launched by Ariane rocket in French Guana on May 19. The satellite will augment Global Positioning System over India.